


Cel and the Nine Blessings

by Quiet_roar



Category: My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: AU, Alternative versions, Gen, Multi, all the characters - Freeform, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 08:12:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16530785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quiet_roar/pseuds/Quiet_roar
Summary: Rainbow Dash reads a story to Luna, finding it to contain more than just myth.





	1. Canterlot Library.

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this sitting around for a while and Finally decided to post it.

            “Take a look! Read any book you want my little ponies!” Celestia stated, motioning her wings to the vast library that stretched out in front of the nine ponies. Luna rolled her eyes at her elder sister’s antics.

            Twilight Sparkle and all her friends had come to the castle in Canterlot to visit, for fun for once. Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer immediately dashed off to look for spell books and research material. Apple Jack went looking for something that Luna figured might have to do with history or some other subject. Spike and Rarity wandered off to look up dresses or some style. Pinkie Pie vanished (probably literally) to go do…something, Luna was still unsure what. Rainbow Dash trotted off to another section of the library, probably to look for a Daring Do book or something, while Fluttershy headed to a section reserved for books on the Everfree Forest.

            Celestia followed Twilight and Starlight in the general direction that they traveled, probably to find a quiet corner to read a book or something. Luna sighed. She liked the library, but not in the traditional way. She preferred to wander between the old wood shelves filled with sweet smelling books and get lost in her own mind as she gazed at her surroundings. Before she could even think about it, she was doing just that; wondering the overly tall shelves, gazing up at the high ceilings as she walked and lost herself in the adventures of her mind. She was surprised out of her stupor at a mass of rainbows attached to a blue body with wings.

            Luna stared at Rainbow Dash, the Pegasus mare had her nose buried in a book. The book looked…old, to say the least. A layer of dust rested on the spine, and the cover was void of anything other than the title of the book.

            “Cel and the Nine Blessing?” Luna read, approaching the blue Pegasus. Rainbow Dash was startled out of her reading, turning away from the book to notice the alicorn who had found her.

            “Uh, yeah. It was just kind of mixed in with the Daring Do books, so I thought I might try it.” The rainbow maned mare responded sheepishly. Surely enough her back was to a bookcase that had all of the Daring Do books lined up, with one spot open; presumable where the book she was holding had been located.

            “Is it any good?” Luna asked, sitting next to Rainbow Dash.

            “I’m only a little ways in but…it sounds like it could be good.” The Pegasus responded, looking between the princess sitting next to her and the book. “It’s describing the characters right now. Listen to this!” Rainbow Dash took a deep breath before reading the descriptions in the book.

 

            “Thistle Whistle is a Pegasus pony with a blue body and a pink and yellow mane and tail. Her cutie mark is purple thistle flowers and a butterfly. She can whistle normally, as expected, but her wings also whistle while she flies, creating a strange but beautiful sound. Her wings are covered in feathers, and her eyes are purple and normal looking. A simplified metronome hangs around her neck. A poet; her poems are an inspiration to all who hear them.

Minty is an earth pony with a mint green body and a pink mane and tail. Her cutie mark is three swirled mint candies. She usually wears green and white stripped socks; she adopted a changeling as a brother, and he usually takes a form similar to a gender-bent Minty. Her eyes are a deep green and normal looking. A lively girl who worked on a ranch and does a little bit of everything in the town.

Umbra Lunar is a Pegasus pony with a light blue body, purple spot under her cutie mark, and black and dark purple mane and tail. Her cutie mark is an icy blue crescent moon. Her wings have feathers near the top, before the feathers fall away and reveal bat wings. The feathers are the same color as her body, while the membrane of her wings are black with white spots, like stars. Her eyes are icy blue and appear to lack separate sclera; her pupils are like a cats’. She wears gear that looks like extremely decorative armor. A lively girl who wrote and taught others how to interpret their dreams.

Ombré Solar is a Pegasus pony with a dark red body, yellow spot under her cutie mark, and an orange and yellow mane and tail. Her cutie mark is a strangely styled red sun. Her wings are completely feathered like a normal pegasi’s, though her primary feathers are yellow as opposed to red. Her eyes are orange and normal looking. She too, wears armor, though it looks much more practical than her sister’s. A warrior of light, she used axes and spears for weapons.

Cel is an earth pony with a pink mane and tail, and white body. Her cutie mark is a circular sun-like object with a crescent moon-like object set in it. Her eyes are pink and normal looking. Her mane and tail are unnaturally long. She wears her hair up in a bun, and has a set of saddle bags on her at all times. She was a simple seamstress.

Gloria Opacare is a siren (Looking like an earth pony) with a light blue, almost white body. Her mane and tail are a slightly darker blue than her body, with two dark blue streaks in both. Her cutie mark is a magenta heart with a periwinkle chicken-scratch music note through it. Her eyes are magenta and normal looking; she wears a blood red crystal necklace around her neck. She was a dancer, and rarely used her voice; unlike other sirens.

Rubrum is a grey male unicorn with a very curly black mane and tail, and green eyes that are normal looking. When he is angered (or praying), the iris of his eyes turns red, the sclera turns a sickly green, and they appear to glow with a purple light. When he uses magic (even when he is not angered) the magical aura appears red. His cutie mark is a cluster of rubies and emeralds. He wears a head ornament, as well as a caplet. A simple monk who kept everyone’s spirits up with prayers.

Schwert is a Griffon who travels with the ponies. She is extremely dark in color, a mix of grey and dark brown, giving her a look of being constantly dirty. Her eyes are gold in color and normal looking. She wears a belt that holds a golden sword which she uses for battle. She was a swordswoman who trained recruits.

Kilo is a blue male dragon. His wings are combined with his arms, and he walks on two legs. Thin spikes trail down his spine to the end of his tail, where it splits into two; a normal tail, and a bone protrusion used for fighting. The membrane underside of his wings is slightly lighter than the rest of his body. His eyes are purple and similar looking to Umbra’s. He has a ruby-topped staff that can shoot fire (as he lacks such a skill). He was a simple man who organized the town and made sure everyone was okay.

Frost is a changeling whom was adopted by Minty’s family. He has never seen another changeling, and it shows in his behavior. His true appearance is unknown, though many speculations exist. He looks like a male version of Minty, herself; though his tail, mane, and eyes all have a noticeable iridescence to them. Like Minty, he wears socks, thought his are dark green and black. He works as a shepherd on the ranch that he and Minty lived on.” Rainbow Dash finished, looking back up to the princess.

            Luna had an odd look on her face. Each character seems to have a lot of thought put into them, and to have one set design for a character that is not debatable is definitely strange. “Hmmm.” Luna nods, imagining each character as their description was read. “Please, continue.” The alicorn requested, nodding to the book.

            “As you command princess!” Rainbow Dash replied, quickly scanning the first few pages. It seemed like an innocent enough story, with a cute happy ending and lots of action in between. Rainbow sat up straighter, preparing to read to the night time princess next to her.


	2. The Tale begins.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Be careful what you say...

            The land was barren, much like a desert or plateau. But none of them left, they all stayed. A village filled with young-looking creatures, referred to in legends as “The Village of Youth”. It was filled with many; ponies, pegapods, unicorns, dragons, manticors, daconiquins, sirens; you name it there was at least one of its kind there!

 

            “Okay, what is up with these…plurals?” Rainbow Dash hissed, glaring at the book. “No one uses “pegapods” anymore, it’s pegasi!”

            “The book might have been written during a time that it was used.” Luna supplied. Rainbow Dash was right though, “pegapods” was the plural for Pegasus, though it was already outdated by the time she turned into Nightmare Moon.

 

            It was filled with many; ponies, pegapods, unicorns, dragons, manticors, daconiquins, sirens; you name it there was at least one of its kind there! No village was more diverse, or filled with creatures more stubborn than these. Whenever asked why they never left, they simply replied “this is our home”, and left it at that.

            The Village of Youth knew the truth, however. The land was barren only for a short period of time, as punishment for replacing gods with idols. Most of the gods were angered by this turn of events; but one god, the god of time, took pity on the innocent people.

            With a loud crash they descended from the sky, creating a glowing, floating pillar of stone. “This is the Tower of Ai. Each floor contains a blessing. There are nine in total. To keep the tower lit, you must send nine messiahs to the tower to collect the blessings in a torch. Should the light at the top of the tower go out, time, and the planet as you know it, will end.” The holy creature boomed, blinding all those who saw them.

            “The blessings are as follow: Blooming Waves, Banquet of Fire, Grace of Sunlight, Peaceful Darkness, Trembling Ground, Rumble of Thunder, Rondo of Whirlwind, Garden of Silver Snow, Fetal Movement of Magma. These are the blessings of the tower.” Each time a name was spoken, a different blessing appeared, their look correlating with their names. With that, the god of time returned to the sky, greenery returning soon after.

            Ever since that day, the Tower of Ai has remained lit, and the world continues to spin. Life slowly returned, and in a short time, no one questioned why the creatures of the Village of Youth had stayed where they were.

 

            “Tell me I’m not the only one who think this is sketchy.” Rainbow Dash interrupted her reading once again to speak to the princess. Luna looked up at the rainbow maned mare in surprise, she had become so engrossed in the book that she found herself leaning closer to the Pegasus.

            Luna backed away, straightening her spine as she did so. “I guess so. It does seem odd to just have something so valuable just sitting there for anypony to take.” The princess stated, flicking one of her ears. “Regardless, please continue.” Rainbow Dash nodded and resumed her reading, shuffling her wings to a more relaxed position.

 

            “Cel? Cel, where are you~?”

            “Up here Umbra!” The white earth pony ran down the stairs, greeting her night-like Pegasus friend as she did so. “What’s wrong? Is something the matter?” As far as Cel could see, nothing was wrong with the other mare’s armor.

            “I would like you to make a flag.” The younger Pegasus sister smiled, stomping her foot as she spoke. “For the new lunar republic!”

            Cel immediately introduced her hoof to her face. “This again? Umbra, you and Ombré really need to stop this silly game.” She spoke, shaking her head.

            “But Cel~!”

            “Cel! I need you to make a flag for the solar empire! Leading you to a brighter future!” At that moment, Ombré burst into the small shop; carrying her coveted spear-axe-combo. She suddenly waved the weapon at Cel, smiling like a madman. “Do you think you can attach it to this?”

            “Not so fast! Cel’s working on my flag first! And stop waving your pointy death bringer in her face, you’re going to make her loose an eye!” Umbra huffed, smacking her older sister with her wing.

            The two Pegasus sisters were about to break out into a full-blown argument, only to be interrupted by Cel. “Girls! Please, stop fighting! You two keep your silly little, Solar Empire versus New Lunar Republic battle to yourselves. Don’t drag the rest of us into this. Okay?”

            The two sister nodded meekly, each muttering an apology. Umbra Lunar shuffled her hooves, glancing between her sister and her friend. Ombré Solar sighed, nodding her head before leaving.

            “Sorry about that.” Umbra stated again, flicking her tail. She was still shuffling her feet, and each shuffle caused a chain on her armor to jingle against a gem or another chain. Cel could only smile. The younger Pegasus looked like a deity of war mixed with a deity of darkness. She was beautiful, yet terrifying. Her elder sister was the exact opposite, a deity of peace mixed with a deity of light. She meant no harm, yet she was difficult to deal with for long periods of time.

            “It’s fine.” Cel smiled softly, waving a hoof. “So, if I were to design a flag for your hypothetical republic, what would it look like?”

            Umbra’s face lit up at Cel’s words. The young pegasus zoomed around the building, gathering paper and other drawing materials. “Okay, so right in the middle, there would be a crescent moon, but it would be turned like a smiley face, and almost make a complete circle. On either side, one wing, kind of like mine! And then, at the top, the phrase “New Dreams, New Hope” in Latin! And the background would be a fabric with glitter on it so when it blows in the wind, it catches light and looks like twinkling stars!” The pony finished, holding up her drawing with hastily written notes.

            Cel giggled. Umbra was so easily excitable, like she never grew out of foaldom. The soft sound of hooves alerted Cel to another pony’s approach; and she was by no means surprised to see Rubrum standing there, looking at Cel with an apologetic stare. Cel observed the male unicorn, and saw that his caplet had a tear in it yet again.

            “Do I even want to know?” The earth pony mare asked, shaking her head while smiling.

            “I…don’t think you do.” Rubrum stated, blushing lightly as he gently removed the torn garment and handed it to the seamstress. “Just know, I did not get angry for once.” He muttered, smiling shyly.

            Cel rolled her eyes but took the garment to a table to begin repairing it. “Sure you didn’t. Tell you what, you sit here and listen to Umbra rant about “The New Lunar Republic”, and I’ll fix this up in a few minutes.”

            The Pegasus perked up at hearing her name and flew over to Rubrum, immediately going on a tirade about how the republic would work, and how, even though she would be the queen, everyone would be able to do what they wanted, and elect creatures to be in her cabinet, and blah, blah, blah. She was so excited that she was speaking at a rate too fast for most to understand.

            Rubrum could only smile as Umbra spoke. It was no secret among the village that he loved the childish Pegasus, being the only two ponies that they knew of who were on the darker end of the color spectrum when it came to their colors only helped strengthen their bond.

            “Lunar, please, calm down. You need to breath you know.” Rubrum laughed, holding onto the Pegasus so she would stop hovering.

            “I’m sorry! I just love the idea of a whole republic dedicated to the night! Oh, just imagine how beautiful it would be! And WE shalst be the rulers! The citizens will adore us, and they shall elect our cabinet members for us!”

            “Umbra! Lower the volume.” Cel hissed. Many creatures tried to keep Umbra Lunar calm, as whenever she would get excited, she would start yelling at a thunderous volume.

            “Oops! Sorry.” Umbra replied, lowering her voice to a much more tolerable volume. Rubrum laughed at the pegasus’ antics.

            “Honestly, I don’t think anyone would want us to be their rulers. Between your energy and my temper, I don’t think we would be very popular.” The unicorn joked, nudging the female Pegasus.

            “You never know!”

            “I finished!” Cel interrupted, holding up the repaired caplet. The stitching wasn’t flawless, but it would do and looked mostly like new. One would have to get very close to see the repair, and Rubrum was not the type of pony to let others get physically close to him.

            The unicorn smiled and gently put the garment back on using his magic. It was a rare thing for him to do, but it was faster than using his hooves. “Anyways, I should get back to the temple. I expect to see you both at the ceremony.” Rubrum stated, leaving the two mares to their devices.

            “I should go too.” Umbra stated quietly, smiling kindly at her earth pony friend. “I’m always a few tocks late, and it’s doing me no favors.” She joked, trotting to catch up to Rubrum. Cel knew the real reason the Umbra left so quickly; much like how the male unicorn held affection for her, Umbra held affection for him.

            Cel sighed and shook her head, trotting back over to her work table to begin working on a new dress for one of her clients. She was happy to finally have the quiet back, so she could sing again.

            _“Concealed in a barren waste land, Children remained there all alone;_

_Against nature together, hand-in-hand;_

_That was their home;_

_Overflowing faith in their hearts, They had to impart;_

_All their joy and their pain, All in sickness and health it was their domain~.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you may recognize the song at the end. It is a vocaloid song, I will post a link at some point in this story.


	3. Interruption brought to you by Pinkie Pie.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not really an interruption, but Pinkie Pie joins the listening crew.

            “What kind of song is that?” Rainbow Dash questioned, turning the book slightly in confusion.

            Luna hummed. The lyrics sounded familiar, yet the way the rainbow mare had sung them was off. Luna read the lyrics again, before trying to sing.

            _“Concealed in a barren wasted land-,_

_Children remained there all alone,_

_Against nature together, hand-in-hand~,_

_That was their home-,_

_Overflowing faith in their hearts,_

_They had to impart,_

_All their joy and their pain,_

_All in sickness and health it was their domain~.”_

            Luna opened her eyes to look at Rainbow Dash, who was staring at her in shock. A shimmer of light filtered over the pegasus’ eyes, before the small pony shook her head, as if clearing a fog from her mind.

            “Uh, that was…nice.” Rainbow Dash replied, turning back to the book to resume reading.

 

            Cel continued humming the tune, working on the dress while subtly dancing.

            “I see you are having fun.” Cel turned to see the one siren of the village walking in. While the other sirens had used their charms and voices to bring about the false idols, the one currently in front of Cel was different.

            “Gloria Opacare. Nice to see you again.” Cel stated, resuming her work as she ceased dancing.

            “I just saw Rubrum and Umbra come from in here. Having a little sleep over, and didn’t invite me~?” The siren, disguised as an earth pony, sang in a childish manner. Gloria approached Cel, and pulled the earth pony away from the dress.

            “Gloria, I have to finish this dress by tomorrow.” Cel defended, trying to pull away from the siren.

            “You know, a lot of colts actually like you Cel. If you fixed up your hair a little, and swayed your flank when you danced,” Gloria paused for a moment so demonstrate, “then you’d have twice as much money! I guarantee it!” In the town, Gloria was the local entertainment for traveling men. She never stayed the night with them, but she did dance for them; and if someone tried to push her to do more, they got a lullaby sung to them.

            Cel pulled away and trotted back to her dress. “I don’t have the skill that you do. Whenever I try to look seductive, I look more like an idiot.” The earth pony countered, lifting up the skirt to finish the hem.

            “I know dear. I kid.” Gloria giggled. She had actually had two “friends” who became false idols before the gods struck them down. Only Gloria remembered their names, and she never said their names as they were the only two creatures she could ever bring herself to hate. They were sirens as well, but they actually fit the stereotype that had formed over the millennia. They were mature, seductive, malicious, and they knew it. Gloria was childish, sweet, perky, and was more like to throw a party than try and seduce anyone.

            “Well then don’t tell me something everyone already knows!” Gloria, for all her positive traits, was unfortunately, a bit of a ditz. Cel was quickly reminded of this fact as she looked back to see the siren tangled up in ribbons of lace. “Oh for goodness sake! Gloria, get out of my shop. I can’t afford anymore lace.”

            The siren smiled bashfully and managed to disentangle herself without tearing any of the lace. “Alrighty. Oh, by the way, the ceremony is in fifteen minutes!”

            “It’s already been that long?!” Cel cried, rushing to tidy up her small shack as the siren waited by the door. “Alright, let’s go!” Cel huffed, finally finishing cleaning up what few things she could. There was still a whole slew of chaos on every surface, but it was at least clear that Cel would not be back for some time.

            Gloria could only giggle as she left first, waiting until the earth pony had pinned down the curtain that made up her door, and hung up an old and crude sign that simply read “OUT”. With that all set up, the two mares trotted off to the old church-like building. It was nothing more than a series of crystal pillars that had been set up in such a way as to allow plant life to make up the walls and ceiling.

            As the two finally reach the natural building, Cel couldn’t help but laugh. Umbra was already there, sitting in the front with a nebula cloud held firmly in her grasp. Her sister was a few rows behind her, carrying a sun shower. “Shoot, I forgot my offering!” Gloria hissed, quickly slithering out and bolting back to the local bar in order to retrieve her offering. Cel laughed again, quickly retrieving her own offering from her saddle bags. It was nothing special, a gold wreath that was soft enough to be mistaken for fabric.

            “And of course, you out-do yourself again.” Cel looked behind her to see her friend, and the most interesting inhabitant of the town.

            “Kilo. How are you?” She asked, stepping aside to make room for the dragon.

            “Oh quite well. I, sadly, only brought a fire ruby.” He stated, holding up the glimmering red crystal for the mare to see.

            “Kilo! Don’t say that! I’ll bet you’ve been ripening that for months!” She gasped, her fur tinted pink due to the intensity of the crystal’s color.

            “Yeah. It would be twice as red had I kept it for years. But, I’m kind of running out of offerings.” The blue dragon stated, holding the almost glowing stone close to himself. “Shall we be seated?” He asked, motioning to the rows of empty seats.

            The two walked forward and sat a few rows behind Umbra, near Ombré, whose sun shower was still glowing. In a few short minutes many more creatures filed in; a Gryphon with a golden chalice, a couple of green earth ponies with wool and thread between them, some more dragons carrying gems, a few Draconiquins carrying a variety of items from umbrellas to cotton candy clouds; more Gryphons carrying gold, some pegapods carrying rainbows and clouds, Gloria finally ran in with a bag of gold dust in her mouth, and finally one more Pegasus came in, holding onto a few sheets of paper.

            The Pegasus sat down next to Cel and Kilo, shuffling her papers and getting them in order. “Those your newest poems Thistle?” Cel whispered, leaning over to talk to the nervous Pegasus.

            “Yes, they are. Oh, but they’re terrible.” Thistle whimpered in response, folding her ears back in misery.

            Everyone fell quiet as Rubrum walked into the building, head held high as he prepared to speak. “As we all know, today’s ceremony includes offerings. As such, you each will come up one at a time and place your offerings on the table, and tell the gods what you wish for in exchange for this offering.” Everyone nodded. This was an old tradition, but sometimes you got new creatures in the town or new kids who had never partaken in the ritual before, so it was a needed explanation.

 

            “This is getting a little weird.” Rainbow Dash stated, tilting her head at the book.

            “Who cares?! Keep reading!”

            Both Princess Luna and Rainbow Dash yelped at the sudden appearance of the hyperactive pink earth pony.

            “Pinkie Pie! When did you get there?!” The blue Pegasus practically yelled, trying to calm down.

            Pinkie Pie shrugged, not moving from her spot. “A while ago.”

            The two winged ponies sighed, but as demanded, Rainbow Dash resumed reading the story.


	4. The start of the end.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Be careful what you wish for.

            “Umbra Lunar, would you like to come up first?” The dark Pegasus practically flew out of her seat as her name was called. She set the nebulus cloud down gently on the alter, looking up at the painting of the gods as she spoke her request.

            “I would like to offer this up in exchange for the power to help others in the world of sleep.” She bowed her head, retreating to her seat as she left her offering on the alter.

            “Jaunty Jumps, would you like to go next?” The next pony to stand and give an offering was a male unicorn, his light brown coat spattered with white. On the alter, he placed a few gold coins.

            “I would like to exchange these for good luck. My wife is going to have a baby, and we can only pray she remains well.” Rubrum nodded to the colt as he walked back to his seat. A few more ponies and even a few dragons went next, each one asking for something small: the ability to sleep peacefully, a touch of good luck, a good harvest, things that were normal requests.

            “Ombré Solar, would you like to go next?” The Pegasus in question stood up and resolutely walked to the alter, placing her sun shower down next to her sister’s nebulus cloud.

            “In exchange for this sun shower, I wish to give my sister all my strength and power in order to take down any foe who dares to harm her or stand in her way.” A quiet shock ran through the building. For one to offer up something so valuable as all her strength to her sister, it was simply unheard of.

            Rubrum remained quiet, nodding to the Pegasus as she held her head high and walked back to her seat.

 

            “Because _that_ doesn’t sound like it’ll come back to bite her at all later.” Rainbow Dash hissed, rolling her eyes as she paused.

            “Keep reading!” Pinkie hissed, stomping her hoof at the interruption. Luna rolled her eyes, but smiled at the ridiculous pink pony.

 

            More creatures walked up to the altar and asked for petty things in return for their offerings of gold and other miscellaneous item.

            “Miny and Frost, would you like to step up?” Rubrum asked, watching as two green earth ponies walked up to the front and placed their items on the altar.

            The girl nodded to the boy, indicating for him to speak their request. “We would like to ask for a good crop this season, in return for this wool and thread.” With that, the two walked back to their seat. It was another few creatures before he reached Cel and her two friends.

            “Kilo, would you like to give your offering?”

            Kilo walked to the altar and gently placed his fire ruby on the stand, smiling brightly. “I simply ask for the ground to be plentiful in gems in future days.” He stated, nodding his head at the altar before walking back to his seat.

            “Cel, your offering?”

            Cel skipped to the altar, taking out her gold wreath and laying it in a clear spot. “I ask to be able to protect my friends from any harm that may come to pass; be it internal or external, I ask for the strength to beat it.” Silence rang through the cathedral as everyone processed Cel’s request. It was a lot to ask of a god, but Cel was prepared for anything. With a determined look on her face, she sat back down.

            “Thistle Whistle, would you please come up and give your offering?”

            The blue Pegasus jumped at her name, nearly dropping her poems before collecting them and scurrying to the front, placing the pile on the altar. “Um, I ask that…um…I didn’t think of a request actually…but, um, I guess I could really do with some confidence or creativity, if it’s not too much to ask.” She whispered, quietly shuffling back to her seat and sitting down nervously.

 

            “Poor Thistle Whistle. I bet she was just scared with everypony staring at her!”

            Rainbow Dash nearly screamed at the sudden appearance of Fluttershy. “Where did you come from?!”

            “Well, I heard Pinkie Pie laughing and yelling, and got curious. Sorry for scaring you. Could you please continue the story?”

            Rainbow Dash sighed and cleared her throat, resuming reading the story to the small group that had gathered.

 

            “Um, I ask that…um…I didn’t think of a request actually…but, um, I guess I could really do with some confidence or creativity, if it’s not too much to ask.” She whispered, quietly shuffling back to her seat and sitting down nervously.

            Rubrum nodded, and stood at the altar. “Gods of time, gods of space, creators of the world and all who live in it, we offer up these gifts in your name, in the hopes that you will give us guidance when we need it…” Rubrum’s eyes and horn started to glow with magical energy as he prayed, a common occurrence to the citizens of the town. “We hope you accept our humble offerings, and continue to watch over us.” With that, the dark stallion bowed his head, and the ceremony was over.

            Umbra walked over to Rubrum, her brow furrowed in concern. “Rubrum, I worry for my sister.”

            “I understand. It is not very often that one would willingly give their life essence to become another’s strength.” The stallion commented, his own brow furrowed in concern.

            “It is not her life I am concerned about Rubrum!” The mare hissed, glancing at the last few creatures to leave the natural building. “I am concerned about her death! An offering to a god lasts until time ends! What will become of my sister when she dies? What will happen when I am to die? What will happen should we need to fight a friend?”

            Rubrum placed a hoof on Umbra’s shoulder. She had begun fluttering as she got more worked up about the matter. “Umbra, calm yourself. Your sister will retain her love for you, and her friends. She will not force you to fight them even if they try to stop you.” He spoke softly, smiling gently at the dark Pegasus. Lunar smiled back at him gently and left, waving her tail to him in farewell.

            A small rumble of thunder sounded from the altar. Rubrum turned to see that it was the sun shower Solar had brought. Despite it’s continued cheery appearance, it was quietly rumbling and flashing with lightning and thunder. “I hope this is not an ill omen…” He spoke quietly, though he knew better.

**Author's Note:**

> The descriptions are important I swear. Also, this was written like, right as Starlight joined the squad, so the school will never be referenced.


End file.
